The Wind in the Willows review, Vaudeville Theatre

Five minutes into The Wind in the Willows I leaned so far forward in my balcony seat at the Vaudeville Theatre, I nearly toppled the fifty feet to the stalls. Ten minutes into The Wind in the Willows I committed the cardinal sin of theatre etiquette and spoke to my companion. 'That actor playing the narrator is extraordinary. He looks and sounds just like Alan Titchmarsh.' She rolled her eyes: 'It is Alan Titchmarsh.'  Well blow me down, the grannies' pin-up boy, the green-fingered Peter Pan of Pebble Mill and afternoon telly, is the star of a ballet. Who'd have thought!

Titchmarsh is terrific. With his wonderful voice and warm, avuncular manner he breathes life through Andrew Motion's script. His timing is spot on, he even sings a line, and the tweed trousers suit him a treat. He's like a young Alan Bennett. All he needs is to write some monologues and he'll have a whole new future in the theatre.

The Wind in the Willows is a Royal Opera House production that's regularly reprised because it's so popular. Directed and choreographed by Will Tuckett to a beautiful score by Martin Ward, it is an elegant and joyful framing of Kenneth Grahame's classic story of Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad and their adventures on the River Bank. The costumes are lovely, the set is like a series of one dimensional drawings brought to life, the dancing builds beautifully to a crescendo, and even the interval has inbuilt excitements.

In conclusion: The Wind in the Willows is a hybrid entertainment masking pure ballet. If, like me, you have never quite got ballet, it may start to pall after a while. I wasn't sure how much I would have enjoyed the dancing despite the joy and eccentricity of it,  without Mr Titchmarsh managing proceedings; but as he was, the question is rendered academic.

References
The Wind in the Willows, Tickets

Vaudeville Theatre, Strand, London WC1.    Run ends 17 January 2015.